The Science of Reincarnation

German Philosopher author Schopenhauer in his book Parerga and Paralipomena states: “…were an Asiatic to ask me for a definition of human? I should be forced to answer him: it is that part of the world which is haunted by the Incredible delusion that man was created out of nothing and that his present birth is his first entrance into life.”

Reincarnation: the idea that we return in another body after the death of our current body has fascinated people throughout history. Wisdom traditions all over the globe throughout most known history have considered reincarnation as an integral tenet of their world views.

Even pharaonic Egypt, polytheistic Greece and Rome, Taoism, Zoroastrianism and a global potpourri of ethnic shamanism and tribal beliefs accepted reincarnation.

Considering the overwhelming global acceptance of reincarnation, it is no wonder that Schopenhauer considered the European disbelief in reincarnation as an incredible dilution.

With the global expansion of European colonialism, disbelief in reincarnation sprint to the West and the westernized parts of the world. Still even today one third of the world population believes in reincarnation and interestingly even in the skeptical West, a significant number of eminent personalities have always accepted reincarnation.

To name a renowned few would be:

·        Italian Philosopher Giordano Bruno

·        Greek Mathematician Pythagoras

·        Greek Philosopher Plato

·        French Philosopher Francois Voltaire

·        US Statesman Philosopher and inventor Benjamin Franklin

·        German Poet and dramatist Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

·        English Poet William Wordsworth

·        American Philosopher and Writer Ralph Waldo Emerson

·        German composer Richard Wagner

·        American Social Critic Writer and Philosopher Henry David Thoreau

·        Russian Novelist and Social Critic Leo Tolstoy

·        American Writer Mark Twain

·        English Playwright George Bernard Shaw

·        American Automobile Pioneer Henry Ford

In addition to these eminent western thinkers who accepted reincarnation, today even the general public is increasingly accepting it.  According to a survey conducted by the Pew Research Forum in 2009, nearly 24% of Americans believe in reincarnation. Similar statistics have been found for European countries.

Wisdom Traditions like: Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism have always considered reincarnation a central tenet of their worldviews.

Many followers of the three Semitic religions Judaism, Christianity and Islam consider reincarnation a heretical belief contrary to their faith. But this condemnation of reincarnation does not originate in the Semitic scriptures.

For example, anyone who reads the Bible will find that it neither explicitly advocates nor directly rejects reincarnation, a stand that is like: its stand on the doctrine of the trinity. What is important is that some verses like John Chapter 9. 1 to 2 and Matthew Chapter 17.9 to 12 do acknowledge reincarnation.

Many of the early Church Fathers accepted reincarnation. Christians Nowadays rarely believe in reincarnation; certainly, the Catholic Church doesn't believe in reincarnation. But one of its most famous Saints arguably its most influential teacher [Saint] Agustina wrote a book on Free Choice of the Will and in that book, he talks about possibilities for an afterlife and one of the possibilities he entertains is:  his reincarnation.

It's been neglected and something that must be discussed more by all.

Dr. Geddes McGregor, a Christian theologian and a distinguished professor of Philosophy at the University of Southern California in his book Reincarnation in Christianity describes in detail the unfortunate happenings that led to the exile of reincarnation from official Christian dogma.

Many Christian Scholars consider the edict against reincarnation controversial and inconclusive.

For example, the globally renowned Swiss Catholic Thinker Hands Cook in his book Eternal Life advocates the acceptance of reincarnation in Christian theology about reincarnation.

Among all available literature's the Vedic literature of ancient world, the oldest on earth, the Vedic teachings have maintained their viability and universal appeal for more than 5000 years.

Some of us may consider referring to the Vedas as unscientific, but why not in the spirit of true seekers be open to knowledge from wherever it comes!!

 Be it science or scripture and evaluated according to its merits; why deprive ourselves of what could potentially be a rich reservoir of wisdom?

We may lead ourselves down a blind alley by adhering dogmatically to the assumption that life can be explained entirely by what we know of the laws of nature. By remaining open to the ideas embodied in the Vedic tradition of India, modern scientists can see their own disciplines from a new perspective.

Especially in the Bhagavad-Gita, we will discover the wisdom therein to be surprisingly systematic and even scientific in the broadest sense of that term. The Bhagavad-Gita is the preeminent philosophical masterpiece in the Vedic library and its wisdom has been acclaimed by thinkers like Emerson and Thoreau and Scientists like Einstein.

Reincarnation Evidence in Scientific Research:

Let's consider the four areas of scientific studies which strongly point to reincarnation:

·        hypnotically induced past life memories:

·        spontaneous past life memories:

·        near-Death experiences and out-of-body experience

·        the phenomenon of consciousness

A Case Study to Understand More:

Now, in probably the first-ever case of its kind, a Patiala-based forensic science expert has sought to scientifically prove the phenomenon. Putting forward for debate his research in a case involving the rebirth of a child who lived in Chakkchela village of Jalandhar district in his past life and now lives in Alluna Miana village of Ludhiana district.

Vikram Raj Singh Chauhan claims to prove based on the comparison between the handwriting of the child in his previous and present births, the theory that rebirth is possible. His findings have been hailed at the recent National Conference of Forensic Scientists at Bundelkhand University, Jhansi.

A couple of months ago, a six-year-old boy Taranjit Singh of Alluna Miana village near Payal in Ludhiana claimed to remember his previous life. In fact, according to his economically weak parents, the boy had been claiming this since he was two years old and used to attempt to run away from home.

The boy said he was born in Chakkchela village in Jalandhar district in his past birth and his real name was Satnam Singh and his father’s name was Jeet Singh.

He said he was a student of Class IX in a school in Nihalwal village at the time of his death. On September 10, 1992, he was returning home on a bicycle from his school along with his friend Sukhwinder Singh when a scooter-rider named Joga Singh of Mirajwala village, Shahkot tehsil, hit him. He received serious injuries on his head and died the following day.

His present father Ranjit Singh said as the boy became more insistent, he and his wife took him to Chakkchela village in Sangrur district. They could not find anyone resembling the people their son had described as his parents. When someone told them that there was a village called Chakkchela in Jalandhar district as well, they decided to go there.

The boy’s father Ranjit Singh and his friend Rajinder Singh went to the government school in Nihalwal village in Jalandhar district where they met an old teacher who told that it was true that a boy named Satnam Singh had died in an accident and he was the son of Jeet Singh of Chakkchela village. Then the family reached the house of Jeet Singh and narrated the whole story.

Ranjit Singh also said that his son claimed that the books he was carrying when the accident occurred had been soaked in his blood. He also had Rs 30 in his purse. On hearing this, the woman Taranjit claimed was his mother in his previous birth, started weeping and confirmed his claim. She said she had preserved the blood-stained books and Rs 30 as the last memory of her child.

After few days Taranjit Singh’s brother in his previous life Kewal Singh, sister Lakhbir Kaur, friend Buta Singh, father Jeet Singh and mother Mohinder Kaur came to Alluna Miana village to meet Taranjit. Lakhbir Kaur showed the photographs of her marriage to Taranjit Singh and asked him to recognize himself in his previous birth. Taranjit Singh immediately recognised the same as also the photo of his parents in his previous birth.

This story was carried in some newspapers. Vikram Chauhan told this writer that as a man of science, he refused to believe such a story but driven by curiosity, he decided to investigate. He visited the villages concerned a number of times. The boy and the parents of both the births repeated the same story. He spoke to a shopkeeper who told him that the boy had taken a notebook on credit of Rs 3 from him a few days before his death. When the shopkeeper went to the boy’s village, the boy immediately recognized him but said he owed him Rest 2 only. The shopkeeper admitted the fact and said he had only wanted to test the authenticity of the child’s claim.

Thereafter to confirm the incident scientifically, Chauhan took samples of the writings of Taranjit Singh both in Gurmukhi and English and also of Satnam Singh from the notebooks kept by the family of Satnam Singh, in order to find out whether or not the handwritings of Satnam Singh and Taranjit Singh were similar. A basic theory of forensic science that the handwritings of two different individuals cannot be the same was the basis of his investigation. If Taranjit Singh and Satnam Singh were the same person, then their handwritings also had to be the same.

The author explained that a person’s handwriting has specific characteristics, which are determined by one’s personality and hence no two persons write in the same manner.

It is an applied science combining the study of optics, physiology and psychology. A person’s psychological makeup determines, to a large extent, his handwriting. Thus, the mind plays an important role in shaping a person’s handwriting and the hand only translates into action the dictates of the mind, which cannot be the same in two different writers.

The author revealed he was amazed to find that the handwriting of Taranjit Singh corresponded almost exactly with that of Satnam Singh. The only difference lay in the muscular coordination of the two writers as Taranjit Singh was not accustomed to writing. This was quite unusual and suggested that something in the two boys was same.

The author argued that if it is presumed that the soul is transferred from one person to another then it can be inferred that the mind will remain the same. Thus, if Satnam Singh’s soul was believed to have been transferred into Taranjit Singh’s body, then it stood to reason that the handwriting of Taranjt Singh would correspond with that of Satnam Singh.

What Bhagavad Gita Says!!

(Purports have been taken from Bhagavad Gita As It Is, an English Translation and commentary on the original Scripture by His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada, a Vaishnava Acharya in the Disciple Succession of Brahma-Madhva-Goudiya Sampradaya and the founder Acharya of International Society for Krishna Consciousness)

Remembrances of past lives can be fascinating, but the real goal of understanding reincarnation is to become free from the painful cycle of birth in death. Vedic literatures warn, this is not a very good business–to die and take birth again. We know that when we die we’ll have to enter again into the womb of a mother–and nowadays mothers are killing the children within the womb.

Generally, people cannot understand this simple verse. Therefore, Krishna says, dhiras tatra na muhyati: “Only a sober man can understand.” But what is the difficulty? How plainly Krishna has explained things!

There are three stages of life. The first, kaumaram, lasts until one is fifteen years old. Then, from the sixteenth year, one begins youthful life, yauvanam. Then, after the fortieth or fiftieth year, one becomes an old man, jara. So those who are dhira–sober-headed, cool-headed–they can understand: “I have changed my body. I remember how I was playing and jumping when I was a boy. Then I became a young man, and I was enjoying my life with friends and family. Now I am an old man, and when this body dies I shall again enter a new body.”

In the previous verse Krishna said to Arjuna, “All of us–you, Me, and all the soldiers and kings who are present here–we existed in the past, we are existing now, and we shall continue to exist in the future.” This is Krishna’s statement.

But ignorant people will say, “How was I existing in the past? I was born only in such-and-such a year. Before that I was not existing. Now I am existing. That’s all right. But as soon as I die, I’ll not exist.” But Krishna says, “You, I, all of us–we were existing, we are still existing, and we shall continue to exist.” Is that wrong? No, it is a fact. 

Before our birth we were existing, in a different body; and after our death we shall continue to exist, in a different body. This is to be understood.

For example, seventy years ago I was a boy, then I became a young man, and now I have become an old man. My body has changed, but I, the proprietor of the body, am existing unchanged. So where is the difficulty in understanding? Dehino ‘smin yatha dehe. Dehinah means “the proprietor of the body,” and dehe means “in the body.” The body is changing, but the soul, the proprietor of the body, remains unchanged.

Anyone can understand that his body has changed. So, in the next life the body will also change. But we may not remember; that is another thing. In my last life, what was my body? I do not remember. So, forgetfulness is our nature, but our forgetting something does not mean that it did not take place. No. In my childhood I did so many things I do not remember, but my father and mother remember. So, forgetting does not mean that things did not take place.

Similarly, death simply means I have forgotten what I was in my past life. That is death. Otherwise I, as spirit soul, have no death. Suppose I change my clothes. In my boyhood I wore certain clothes, in my youth I wore different clothes. Now, in my old age, as a sannyasi [a renunciant], I am wearing different clothes. The clothes may change, but that does not mean that the owner of the clothes is dead and gone.

This is a simple explanation of transmigration of the soul.

So, our question should be this: “I am eternal, so why have I been put into this temporary life?” This is an intelligent question. And this is our real problem. But we generally set aside this real problem. We are thinking of how to eat, how to sleep, how to have sex, how to defend.

Even if we eat nicely and sleep nicely, ultimately, we must die. The problem of death is there. But we don’t care about this real problem. We are very much alert to solve the temporary problems, which are not actually problems at all. The birds and beasts also eat, sleep, have sexual intercourse, and defend themselves. They know how to do all these things, even without the human beings’ education and so-called civilization. So, these things are not our real problems.

The real problem is that we do not want to die but death takes place. This is our real problem.

?Solution to this problem as per Bhagavad Gita:

"That which pervades the entire body you should know to be indestructible. No one is able to destroy that imperishable soul. " (Bhagavad Gita 2.17)

"For the soul there is neither birth nor death at any time. He has not come into being, does not come into being, and will not come into being. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain." (Bhagavad Gita 2.20)

"The soul can never be cut to pieces by any weapon, nor burned by fire, nor moistened by water, nor withered by the wind. (Bhagavad Gita 2.23)

Thus, the soul and the body are two different things. The body is temporary, and the soul is eternal.

Although the nature of the soul is beyond the scope of measurable material interactions, one can realize its presence with the help of the following example:

"O son of Bharata, as the sun alone illuminates all this universe, so does the living entity, one within the body, illuminate the entire body by consciousness." (Bhagavad Gita 13.34)

There are various theories regarding consciousness. Here in Bhagavad-Gita the example of the sun and the sunshine is given. As the sun is situated in one place, but is illuminating the whole universe, so a small particle of spirit soul, although situated in the heart of this body, is illuminating the whole body by consciousness. Thus, consciousness is the proof of the presence of the soul, as sunshine or light is the proof of the presence of the sun. When the soul is present in the body, there is consciousness all over the body, and as soon as the soul has passed from the body, there is no more consciousness.

This can be easily understood by any intelligent man. Therefore, consciousness is not a production of the combinations of matter. It is the symptom of the living entity. The consciousness of the living entity, although qualitatively one with the supreme consciousness, is not supreme because the consciousness of one body does not share that of another body. But the Super Soul, which is situated in all bodies as the friend of the individual soul, is conscious of all bodies. That is the difference between supreme consciousness and individual consciousness.

Although reincarnation constantly takes place because the soul is changing its various bodies, in the West the term reincarnation is mainly referred to as the final change of the soul into a new body.

"As the embodied soul continuously passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death."

(Bhagavad Gita 2.13)

At the time of death, the spirit soul leaves the gross body together with the subtle body (astral body-mind, intelligence and false ego) and is "born again" into the womb of a female body according to the law of karma (either immediately or after some time).

One's next birth is determined by one's consciousness at the time of death (yam yam vapi smaran bhavan... Bhagavad Gita 8.6) because everything we do or think in our present life leaves an impression in the mind and the summary of these impressions influences our consciousness at the time of death.

It is important to understand that one may have to accept any type of body after leaving one's human body. If one's human existence is without the cultivation of spiritual knowledge one must enter lower forms of life.

So how does one purify his consciousness so that one can have a better life next time or avoid reincarnation all together?

Lord Krishna gives us the answer:

"And whoever, at the time of death, quits his body, remembering Me alone, at once attains My nature. Of this there is no doubt. "(Bhagavad Gita 8.5)

The only way we will remember Krishna at the time of death is to remember him during our life. The best way to remember Him is to chant His holy names-the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra. It is the yajna (sacrifice) for this age.